Sir William
Sir William is one of the main protagonists of Stronghold 2. He is also featured as an AI opponent in Kingmaker mode. Apperance and personality Sir William is a typical lord of the age with longish hair and a beard. He has a fair appearance to him and can easily be described as handsome. He wears a large griffin on the chest of his metal armor. He also wears a maroon colored cape, sometimes featuring a fleur-de-lis ''symbol. William wields a sword in battle. William is a valiant and noble person, who considers chivalry a main factor for his life. He is unendingly faithful for his king, as well as comrades he encounters during his quests. William's relentless pursuit for skirmishes makes him a stubborn and overconfident person, which is often his undoing. He however is a very subtle and courteous knight, manifesting him as an overall positive character. Biography Sir William is an influential lord and close advisor of the King. He takes care of most military matters in the country, defending royal interests and leading skirmishes against his opponents. William usually works alone, however he forges temporary alliances in order to further his progress. He holds various castles and estates throughout the country. William courts Lady Seren, a woman of the church in high rank. Path of Peace William is sent to bring order to a remote island by the King. He however prioritizes his own personal matters, 'leading a 'crusade elsewhere', as well as devoting time to court Lady Seren. William's acts leave his estates running but unneglected, which is to be cleaned up by the new aspirant, Matthew Steele. William's estates face food shortage, as population grows due to welfare. Steele successfully manages to prevent disaster, while he also slowly takes care of wolves, outlaws and other problems in the neighbourhood. William grants his estates to Steele, as well as a few swordsmen as military aid. William eventually returns to the island after Edwin's attempt to overthrow Sir Grey, in order to take the former in custody. As the King holds a royal feast to celebrate Steele's accomplishments, he signs up for a jousting tournament, only to fall from the saddle. He is tended and taken care of by Edwin, the new jester. Path of War The King suddenly vanishes after the court falls into disarray. Prior, the King is to hold a feast to commemorate his service and the period of five years' peace. Pascal Deveraux, William's brother in the King's office, plots to dispose of the King and destabilize his rule. He poisons the King's food, almost killing him. As the King survives, he instructs William to control the court, however he has to leave for a skirmish, as the rampaging Olaf Grimtooth devastates the countryside. WIlliam's absence leaves Pascal in charge. Deveraux immediately seizes the opportunity to dismantle the King's rule. He signs a decree to sell the Royal Guard's weapon stocks and disband it, leaving the King without a proper military and guard. Constable Briggs gets notified of this and immediately extracts the King to a secure location, leaving the entire leadership to its ashes. William with his former page, Matthew Steele, starts wandering around the country and search for his master. He trespasses in Lord Barclay's lands in the process to find whether he is kept at him. Barclay and his garrison is poised to stop the intruders and they start a chase after him. William is cut off from the guards, as a misfired projectile just destroys the bridge behind him. He and Steele then quickly work themselves through the light outer defenses. Barclay consults with his second-in-command, Pascal Deveraux. He tells the Hawk of his experience, to which the Hawk advises to hire Olaf Grimtooth in order to dispose of the two. The Hawk immediately recognizes that William as his brother, is still alive. In the meantime, William embarks on a huge trip to Flanders with the intent of gathering reinforcements and allies, leaving Steele to his advisors. While he is abroad, he discovers Olaf's invasion force, which attacks Steele's settlement, however Steele deflects them with ease. William then meets Steele at Lady Seren's castle. William is contacted by Sir Edwin Blackfly, who is imprisoned in Seren's fort. He promises land and troops in return for him being freed, thus the two quickly extract Edwin, to their demise. William also reveals that he used to love Lady Seren, however her political acts led to leave her. Edwin grants a castle for them in the Borderlands, where Sir Grey and Angus McLoud fight for a very long time. While Steele is busy fighting the Bull and defending Sir Grey, William is taken by Edwin to a wasteland and gets imprisoned by Olaf. Steele is also notified by the King that William might be involved in a plot to steal the crown. William is then helplessly held until Steele gets word of his imprisonment and comes with an army to siege Olaf's war camp near Friar Jacob's pillaged monastery. The knight is then almost hanged by Olaf, however Steele quick intervention saves him from certain death. As William recovers, he sends scouts to keep updated, while Steele fights Olaf and Edwin in their own lands. After they are taken care of, he gets news of a joint operation from Lord Barclay, the Hawk and Lady Seren, which causes a conflict between him and Sir Grey. While he is compelled to face the outnumbering armies, Grey does not want to get involved in the bloodshed and pulls out. William persists and his foolhardiness leaves Steele in peril. Much to their fortune, Lady Seren betrays the Hammer and joins William's ranks. Steele also manages to deflect the attack. Seren quickly makes her peace with William, as well as she reveals that the King rests at her Abbey. William and Seren then head for the Abbey. The Blue Path Steele leaves with his comrades. Fueled by hatred, William immediately sets forth to his brother's lands, avenging his betrayal and with the intent of causing any more trouble. He dugs himself in on a peninsula army and cuts Pascal off of the mainland, however his fortifications come under attack by Sir Hugo Blanc. While Sir Grey tries to relieve him but turns back in the crucial moment, only Matthew Steele can once again save him from defeat. William and Steele starts to undermine the Hawk's influence on his lands. Soon they face the combined might of [Bull, Pascal and the Hammer. Steele's skills show once again and soon they kill Deveraux in his own castle. William and Steele however gets surrounded by Barclay's men, but Sir Grey manages to equalize the situation. As Barclay has to retreat, he kills Grey. William soon sees the King in the Abbey. They quickly make peace and make clear that William was never considered to be a traitor, much to William's confusion. The King then makes preparations for an all-out attack on Lord Barclay's castle, which successfully concludes with Barclay's surrender. The Green Path Steele abandons William and his company due to his foolhardiness and constant battles. Steele moves to his lands after the siege of the Abbey and the death of Lady Seren. Steele tries to convince William to join him with the promise of a new beginning, however he refuses in anger and disgust. He bears arms and tries to overthrow Steele in a war of attrition, however he is pushed back and Steele establishes a foothold. His demise is only delayed by Sir Grey's timely arrival, who falls in a field battle against the Bull and Steele. William is faced by Steele's men, who quickly kill him. Castles and strategies William is a skillful and tactical opponent. He is adept at building economies and pouring troops against his enemies, slowly overrunning their defenses. His defenses are minimal, but perform well against low-scale attacks. Castle William builds tight castles with a square-shaped enclosure. He builds a few square and round towers on various corners with ballistae and mangonels, running stone walls and moat around the keep. He keeps numerous archers on the walls and his castle is usually swarming with troops. Traps are not built, however wall-mounted rolling logs are located in various open wall segments. William builds his production buildings outside of his castle. Economy William's economy is extensive and more productive than normal. He gathers iron and stone, as well as he provides all food types for the granary. He builds the Lord's kitchen and several statues for honor, as well as supplying the kitchen with pigs and wine. William also gets a huge boost from taxes, through the utility of ale and religion. His weapons production is also well-covered and is a bit profitable through pike production. Unit compositions William uses a low variety of troops. His trademark units, archers and swordsmen provide an all-round combination that proves effective in large numbers in any situation against unprepared opponents. *Defense: archer (guarding walls, personal defense), swordsman (guarding spots) *Harassment/estate force: archer, swordsman, catapult *Offense: archer, spearman, swordsman, catapult, cat, battering ram How to deal with Defense You should station several archers and crossbowmen in towers and along your walls. Place both ballistae and mangonels on your towers to send troops flying and destroy his siege camp. You may wish to have a task force of hobilars and/or macemen to demolish his siege equipment and rolling logs to assist you missile troops. Archers should make mincemeat of the attackers, and spearmen with crossbowmen will break open the armor of the 'tinmen'. Offense Sir William builds many troops, but his castle is wide open and weakly garrisoned. Attacking the side with the dual ballistae is your best choice to attack. Bring a fair number of horse archers and eliminate the defenders in the towers, while some laddermen try to set up their ladders against the walls. Then bring up some archers or crossbowmen to take the towers and snipe defenders on the ground and the walls. Once everything is clear, move in for the kill. ''Note: William has a bugged castle design, where one of his round towers is rotated so that it is accessible from outside and it is possible to dominate his castle. There is an utility on this link that can be used to fix this problem. Quotes For the Kingmaker quotes of Sir William, see /Quotes Trivia *Sir William can be referred as a 'mascot' character for Stronghold 2, being featured on the disk cover, the loading screen and the title screen. *William's crests and shields feature a large griffin, a trademark of his. *Sir William is the brother of the Hawk, Pascal Deveraux. It is possible that he also carries the family name of Deveraux, yet does not use it. Gallery Sir William.jpg|RUN FROM BARCLAY! Navigation Category:Stronghold 2 Characters Category:Characters